Observation #4:
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
Observation:
This week, I paid attention to both middle and high school CT's to see how they manage their classrooms. It doesn't seem like either teacher has a any problem with behavior. In the middle school, my CT mostly just has to constantly make sure the students are on topic and focusing since they are easily distracted. While there aren't really any disruptions in the classroom, there are students who will just sit in the seats and stare at the wall or out the window obviously not engaged in the material. To manage this type of behavior, my CT constantly paces the room and taps the desks of the students who aren't focusing. This seems to snap them back into reality and start working on their assignment. She also randomly calls on students for answers or comments, specifically choosing the students who don't seem involved.
My high school CT explained to me that she rarely has any disruptions in her honors classes. Every student pays attention while they are correcting homework or while she's lecturing. Since these classes are discussion-based most of the time, my CT has to make sure that each student contributes. To make sure of this, she randomly calls on students to answer questions. This way, she ensures that they are all engaged in the lesson. In her basics level class, there is more of an issue with behavior. These students have great difficulty listening to instructions. My CT has to repeat herself multiple times a class period and still there are some students who can't remember what to do. The students get frustrated when they don't understand and withdraw themselves mentally from the lesson. There is a special education teacher in this class who helps walk the students through what they're supposed to be doing, so that alleviates some of the confusion. There is one student in particular who isn't necessarily disruptive, but usually refuses to do any type of work. The special education teacher spends most of her time with him, and I've seen her send him to the office on multiple occasions. The rest of the students are all friends with each other, so this makes for a lot of distraction during lessons. My CT usually solves this problem by separating the students, one to a table.
Reflection:
In my own classroom, I want to be sure that each student is focused on their work throughout the class period. If I make the subject matter interesting and engaging enough, students will actually want to complete their work. I like the idea of tapping students' desks at the middle school level when it is obvious they are withdrawn from the lesson. This lets them know that I see them and know they are not focusing. It doesn't seem like I'll have a lot of trouble with behavior in the middle school because my CT has made the behavior expectations clear from the beginning of the year. This is also a good strategy I plan on using in my own classroom.
I may have more of an issue with behavior if I decide to teach the basics Biology class in the high school. In order to not have to repeat myself multiple times a class period, I would ask the students to repeat back to me the directions for the day to make sure they were listening and understand. I will use my CT's strategy of separating the students by table when we're not doing labs. I don't like to see students get sent down to the office because then they're are just getting more behind in their classwork, so I would pull that particular student aside and ask him how I could help him focus on his work more. I think a seat closer to the front of the room and a break from the special education teacher would help him to focus more.
In this observation, pay attention to how your teacher manages his or her classroom. What types of disruptions, if any, occur while you're visiting? How do they set the class in motion? How do they deal with interruptions (from the outside) and disruptions (from their students)? Determine whether there are students in the classes that you will teach that are especially troublesome. Ask your CT how he or she addresses these students' needs. Reflect on your "vision" of an ideal science classroom. What classroom policies will you try to implement in YOUR classroom? How does your vision align with your teaching philosophy?
Observation:
This week, I paid attention to both middle and high school CT's to see how they manage their classrooms. It doesn't seem like either teacher has a any problem with behavior. In the middle school, my CT mostly just has to constantly make sure the students are on topic and focusing since they are easily distracted. While there aren't really any disruptions in the classroom, there are students who will just sit in the seats and stare at the wall or out the window obviously not engaged in the material. To manage this type of behavior, my CT constantly paces the room and taps the desks of the students who aren't focusing. This seems to snap them back into reality and start working on their assignment. She also randomly calls on students for answers or comments, specifically choosing the students who don't seem involved.
My high school CT explained to me that she rarely has any disruptions in her honors classes. Every student pays attention while they are correcting homework or while she's lecturing. Since these classes are discussion-based most of the time, my CT has to make sure that each student contributes. To make sure of this, she randomly calls on students to answer questions. This way, she ensures that they are all engaged in the lesson. In her basics level class, there is more of an issue with behavior. These students have great difficulty listening to instructions. My CT has to repeat herself multiple times a class period and still there are some students who can't remember what to do. The students get frustrated when they don't understand and withdraw themselves mentally from the lesson. There is a special education teacher in this class who helps walk the students through what they're supposed to be doing, so that alleviates some of the confusion. There is one student in particular who isn't necessarily disruptive, but usually refuses to do any type of work. The special education teacher spends most of her time with him, and I've seen her send him to the office on multiple occasions. The rest of the students are all friends with each other, so this makes for a lot of distraction during lessons. My CT usually solves this problem by separating the students, one to a table.
Reflection:
In my own classroom, I want to be sure that each student is focused on their work throughout the class period. If I make the subject matter interesting and engaging enough, students will actually want to complete their work. I like the idea of tapping students' desks at the middle school level when it is obvious they are withdrawn from the lesson. This lets them know that I see them and know they are not focusing. It doesn't seem like I'll have a lot of trouble with behavior in the middle school because my CT has made the behavior expectations clear from the beginning of the year. This is also a good strategy I plan on using in my own classroom.
I may have more of an issue with behavior if I decide to teach the basics Biology class in the high school. In order to not have to repeat myself multiple times a class period, I would ask the students to repeat back to me the directions for the day to make sure they were listening and understand. I will use my CT's strategy of separating the students by table when we're not doing labs. I don't like to see students get sent down to the office because then they're are just getting more behind in their classwork, so I would pull that particular student aside and ask him how I could help him focus on his work more. I think a seat closer to the front of the room and a break from the special education teacher would help him to focus more.